The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial Board endorsed President Donald Trump for reelection on Oct. 31, marking their first endorsement of a Republican since Richard Nixon’s 49-state landslide victory in 1972.
The paper supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but abstained from endorsing either candidate in 2016.
“But we believe Mr. Trump, for all his faults, is the better choice this year,” the Editorial Board wrote.
The Post-Gazette‘s endorsement comes in a similar situation to the last time it backed a Republican.
Like then-Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern, a socialist and communist sympathizer, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden obeys the commands of the far-left, socialist leaders in his party.
The paper’s words will aid Trump in securing victory in Pennsylvania, arguably the most coveted swing-state in 2020.
In the article, “The man and the record,” the Editorial Board encourages readers to vote for Trump because of his record, despite his personality.
The authors argue that Trump is “unpresidential,” “crude and unkind,” and “not a good man.”
“We share the embarrassment of millions of Americans who are disturbed by the president’s unpresidential manners and character — his rudeness and put-downs and bragging and bending of the truth,” the Editorial Board said.
In an ideal world, Trump’s policies would be accompanied by the “first-class temperament and demeanor” of leaders like Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama.
But the Editorial Board said that these concerns must be secondary, since Trump has offered real assistance and solutions to Pennsylvania.
The Post-Gazette praised Trump for the economy, the stock market, and low unemployment for black Americans.
Trump promised to renegotiate America’s trade agreements. He has fulfilled that promise by leaving the Trans-Pacific Partnership, signing the US-Mexico-Canada agreement to replace NAFTA, and forcing China to trade fairly.
“Thanks to him, middle America is on the map again and the Appalachian and hourly worker has some hope,” the Editorial Board wrote.
The paper also praises Trump for his Supreme Court appointments, including Amy Coney Barrett, “the best of all — a jurist whose mind and character and scholarship ARE first class.”
Reservations about Trump as a person cannot outweigh the lasting damage that Biden and Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, a socialist California Senator, would do to the state.
In comparison to Trump, “the Biden-Harris ticket offers us higher taxes and a nanny state that will bow to the bullies and the woke who would tear down history rather than learning from history and building up the country.”
The paper’s distaste for Biden comes down to three issues: age, energy, and China.
First, “Biden is too old for the job, and fragile,” the Editorial Board wrote.
And while Trump’s age is a concern as well, the paper acknowledges that he is “seemingly robust” and that Vice President Mike Pence is “ready to take over, if need be.”
Harris, on the other hand, “gives no evidence of being ready to be president.”
Second, Biden-Harris will destroy Pennyslvania’s oil industry, end fracking, and implement “Cuckoo California dreams” of the Green New Deal.
Third, Biden “offers softness on China, which Mr. Trump understands is our enemy.”
